Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-04-04
IN THE oLDEN TIME.
wO Excursions from Whining
of the Ada Ham

Two excursions from Whining.
ton--Explosion OF the Ada Ham
cock.
Two expeditions sailed from Whining
ton wears ago at different times, that
some of our older citizens remember well,
and that they instinctively connect to-
gether in their memories, because some
Of their friends who participated in both
met such tragic fate in the las! one.
The story of the first OF these two
pleasure excursions can be told in few
words, because, though thoroughly en-.
ioyed, it passed off without accident or
unusual incident of any kind. On the 9th
OF June, 1859, large party Of people
from this city, by invitation, set out on
an excursion to Santa Catalina Island.
They were conveyed by Mr.. Banning's
stages to his embryo town of New San
Pedro, as Wilmington was then called.
where they breaktastsd, and then they
were transported on his little steamer,
The "Cricket," to the outer harbor where
they embarked on the United States
coast survey steamer "Active," com.
manded by Captain Alden, of the navy,
afterwards Commodore Alden. Captain
Alden very courteously received the
party on board his craft, and then
steamed away for Catalina Island.
twenty-five miles distant, landing, af.
ter dining sumpuously on the steam
er, at the isthmus, where the day
was pleasantly spent, when the party
returned to Wilmington, and thence by
carriages to Los Angeles. Among the
persons who participated in this pleas
ant excursion, were Henry Mellus,
afterward Mayor of this city, and his
brother, Francis Mellus, w. Il. Shore,
R. B. Garrett, Wallace Woodwork and
sister, Mary Alice, Rev. w. E. Board.
man and wife, ]. II. lands, H. Allan
son and P. Banning, who have since
deceased; also the following who
are still living in this city or else
where: s. Lazard, J. S. Mallard, H.
Hamilton, J. G. Nichols, ex.Mayor of
| Los Angeles, H. D. Barrows, M. j. New
mark and G.. F. Lamson. The follow
| ing members of this excursion were af.
forwards killed or injured on the
steamer Ada Hancock, on the second
excursion referred to above: DR.. Henry
R. Myles, Thos. H. Workman, brother
of our present Mayor, w. T. B. San.
ford, General Banning, and probably
some others not remembered by the
| writer.
The expedition of the Ada Hancock
started for Catalina Island April q, 1868,
with o large number of passengers, but
| the steamer exploded her boilers soon
after leaving the wharf at Wilmington,
killing many people outright and hurt
1 I, fhaf fhou dio1 frapn fha
effects Of their injuries. whilst General
| Banning and several others who were on
board were not seriously hurt. In addi-
| ton to those mentioned above, Captain
Seeley, the long time popular commander
| of the old steamer Senator that ran on
this coast for so many years; Captain
Bryant, o son of General Albert Sidney
Johnston and many Others whose names
| / do not now remember, were among the
killed. Miss Medora Hereford, sister of
Mrs. B. D. Wilson, of San Gabriel. died
after some months of pathetic suffering
from hurts received in this sad accident,
which produced painful and lasting i'm
| preston on our community and which
has not yet been effaced from the memo.
| ries of some of our older citizens. The
/ AQa I18uCOCh StcdIlcT was uduicu ny
General Banning after the wife of Capt.
W. S. Hancock, afterwards General Han.
cock. who had been prior to this time
stationed here as quartermaster. The
precise cause of the explosion that cost
so many lives, and carried inexpresslble
| anguish TO so many hearts, believe was
never fully determined. Whether there
/ is single person alive to-day who was
on that unfortunate steamer when the
terrible explosion occurred / do not
know. But I do know that there are
many sensitive hearts that still bleed
whenever memory recalls the sad story
of the loss of the Ada Hancock, even
though almost twenty.four years have
passed away since the event happened.
II. d. B.
Los Angeles, March, 1887.
-GSanta Monica Outlook